Approval of the amended assessment report for the Saugeen Valley source protection area and amended source protection plan for the Saugeen-Grey-Sauble-Northern Bruce Peninsula source protection region

The purpose of the Clean Water Act, 2006 is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water to help protect human health and the environment, and to ensure safe, clean drinking water for all Ontarians.

The Act ensures communities are able to protect their drinking water sources through prevention - by developing collaborative, locally driven, watershed based drinking water source protection plans founded on science. Protecting local drinking water sources is an important first step in ensuring Ontario’s communities are confident in the quality and quantity of their drinking water.

Amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan were carried out to further protect sources of drinking water in the Saugeen Valley source protection area. The amendments include the identification of new and updated Wellhead Protection Areas as a result of a new well in the Ripley drinking water system, and one new well and one decommissioned well in the Point Clark wellfield, part of the Lakeshore drinking water system, all within the Municipality of Huron-Kinloss. The amendments also include minor changes to the risk management plan policies to improve clarity and consistency, and to clarify the location where certain policies for septic systems apply.

The amendments have been completed in accordance with the legislative and regulatory requirements set out in the Clean Water Act and Ontario Regulation 287/07 (General) and have been approved. The effective date of the amendments is upon posting on the Environmental Registry.

Other public consultation opportunities

During preparation of the assessment report and source protection plan amendments the local source protection authorities carried out public and stakeholder consultation.

While developing the amendments, the local source protection authorities invited comments on the draft amendments from the public and implementing bodies affected by the changes to the protection zones and policies, including the provincial government and local municipalities. In addition, the source protection authorities held public consultation on the changes to the protection zones and policies included in the proposed amendments from March to May 2017.

The Grey-Sauble source protection authority completed the legislative requirements for consultation for the amended assessment report and source protection plan on behalf of the source protection authorities in the region. Comments received on the proposed amendments were taken into consideration by the source protection authority and revisions were made where appropriate. The comments received on the proposed amendments were submitted to the Ministry and taken into consideration as part of the review process.

The approved amendments to the assessment report and source protection plan can be viewed at the link provided in this notice and on the Saugeen-Grey-Sauble-Northern Bruce Peninsula source protection region website.

No changes have been made to the future review cycle of the Saugeen-Grey-Sauble-Northern Bruce Peninsula source protection plan. This review cycle was established when the initial plan was approved in January 2015 and is described in the EBR notice posted with that decision (available at the link provided in this notice).

Other information

The Minister has concluded that the legislative requirements under the Clean Water Act have been met and that comments the source protection authorities received during consultation on the assessment report and source protection plan amendments have been adequately considered and addressed.